Restorative Justice – rehabilitation through reconciliation.

Frank Dubofsky speaks with with Kathleen McGoey of the  Longmont Community Justice Partnership whose mission is to rebuild community through restorative practices “and give people the opportunity to have a voice in creating justice in their community.”

McGoey says their Restorative Justice Program is done in partnership with the Longmont police department and municipal court, to offer restorative justice as an alternative to the criminal justice system.

“When the police get called out for service, when they talk to the responsible party, or the offender, and the harmed party, or victim – they’re looking to see if that offender is taking responsibility for their actions and if the victim is willing for the case to go an alternative route, so not going to court.”

LCJP also works in schools providing training and implementation support for schools to use alternative models to suspension and expulsion, and also providing support for teachers using classroom management techniques that focus on building trusting and respectful relationships.

They train over 400 people a year to volunteer as facilitators in the restorative justice program as well as to use restorative practices in place of other more traditional punitive approaches in other areas, e.g. the workplace with employee disputes.

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